互聯網不兼容行為中“惡意”的解釋與認定

The Explanation and Determination of 'Bad Faith' in the Act of Unfair Competition of 'Bad Faith Incompatibility' on the lntenet

“惡意不兼容”是《反不正當競爭法》2017年修訂時確立的互聯網新型不正當競爭行為之一。《反不正當競爭法》第12條從行為方式、損害後果和行為表現三個方面確立了“惡意不兼容”的認定標準，其中，“惡意”的判斷既是關鍵也是難點。《反不正當競爭法》對不兼容行為設置“惡意”要求，是為了提高不兼容行為的違法性標準，體現了法律規制的謹慎態度。“惡意”的認定不應放鬆更不應放棄。可以從認知上的“惡意”與意圖上的“惡意”兩個方面來解釋“惡意”的含義，前者指只有直接故意才可能構成“惡意”，後者指行為人必須存在明確的不當意圖。實踐中，“惡意”的認定只能基於個案，即通過判斷不兼容行為的具體屬性、行為人及其競爭對手的行為表現，以客觀證據來證明行為人存在“惡意”；必要時“惡意”也可推定，然後由行為人來反證自己不存在“惡意”。

Bad faith incompatibility is a new type of act of unfair competition related to the Internet established in the 2017 amendment of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China(AUCL). Art. 12 of AUCL establishes the standard of 'bad faith incompatibility' from three aspects: means, damage consequences and behavior performance. Among them, the identification of 'bad faith' is not only the key but also the difficulty. The requirement of 'bad faith' in AUCL represents the high standard of identifying such act of unfair competition and also reflects the cautious attitude of legal regulation. The determination of 'bad faith' should not be relaxed, still less should it be abandoned. The meaning of 'bad faith' includes 'knowing' and 'intention'. The former refers to 'direct intention', while the latter refers to the improper intention of the actor. In practice, the determination of 'bad faith' can only be based on individual cases and proved by circumstance evidence, mainly examining the performance and extent of incompatibility, the behaviors of the actor and its competitors, etc. When necessary, 'bad faith' can also be presumed, and then the actor can prove that he does not have 'bad faith'.